Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to manipulator devices and, more particularly, to dexterous manipulators for use in minimally-invasive surgical procedures, for example.
Related Art
Snake-like dexterous manipulators (DMs) have found a variety of applications in robotic surgery in general and, specifically, in minimally-invasive surgery (MIS). The hyper-redundant dexterous manipulators used for MIS are designed for such uses as carrying diagnostic tools (e.g., for endoscopic and arthroscopic surgery), palpating tumors, suturing soft tissue, needle-steering (e.g., for micro and neurosurgery), micro-grasping in fetal surgery, gastro-intestinal interventions, and ENT (ear, nose, and throat) surgeries, for example. These DMs typically assist surgeons in diagnosis and/or operating in constrained environments. The current generation of DMs lack structural stability, such as to withstand high external end-effector forces occurring in many applications, including orthopaedics, for example.
What is needed is an improved device and method for performing minimally-invasive surgical procedures.